Solderless connecter



A ril 12, 1938. E. G. JOHANSSON 2,114,183

. SOLDERLESS CONNECTER Filed April 4, 1935 Patented Apr. 12, 1938 SOLDERLESS CONNECTER.

Ernest G. Johansson, Watertown, Mass, assignor to The Palmer Electric & Manufacturing 00., Waltham, Mass, a corporation or Massachusetts Application April 4, 1935, Serial No. 14,612

3 Claims.

This invention relates to solderless connecters for electrical conductors. Electrical connections, especially where heavy currents are to be carried, are usually soldered where possible, so as 5 to provide a good interfacial contact between the conductors which are connected. There are occasions, however, where soldering may not be available or possible. In such cases solderless connecters must be employed. When using such connecters, it is important that the contacting faces be of maximum area and that they be firmly pressed together to minimize electrical resistance at the point of contact and the heating eiiect which results from local resistance.

According to the present invention, asimple but efiective solderless connecter is provided, this connecter being of small size relative to its current-carrying capacity, being inexpensive to manufacture, requiring the use of no tool except an ordinary screw driver, and being adapted to receive conductors of various diameters up to a certain limit.

For a more complete understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the description of an embodiment thereof which follows, and to the illustration thereof on the drawing of which Figure 1 is a plan view of one of the members of the improved connecter in the course of manufacture.

Figure 2 is an elevation of the same member after it has been bent to shape.

Figure 3 is a plan view of a sheet metal blank for another member of the connecter.

Figure 4 is a plan view of the same after it has been bent to shape.

Figure 5 is an elevation of the members of a connecter and a'portion of a conductor to be secured therein.

Figure 6 is a plan view of a connecter assembled with a conductor.

Figure '7 is a section on the line 'I--'| of Figure 6.

Figure 8 is a section on the line 88 of Figure 6. 45 Figure 9 is a sectional view of the connecter showing it assembled with two conductors.

Figure 10 shows in plan view a connecter mounted as a terminal and connected to a conductor.

Figure 11 is an elevation of the structure shown represents a piece of strip metal stock It which is cut to suitable length to be bent into U-shaped form as shown in Figure 2. Prior to the bending of the strip it, a hole'fll may be punched, drilled, or otherwise formed in the center of the strip, and a pair of groove segments i2 and i3 may be swaged or gouged in a face of the strip it, these groove segments being preferably alined with each other and extending along the longitudinal median of the strip. The strip i0 is then bent on the lines a-a and b-b into U-form so that the hole is in the bottom of the U, and grooves l2 and i3 are on the inside opposed faces of the legs and I6 of the U. The legs are then held by any suitable means against spreading while the grooves l2 and i3 are tapped with a threadcutting tool to form a, screw thread therein.

As shown in Figure 3, a second member 20 may be cut from metal sheet stock to form an H-shape comprising a pair of side members 2| and 22 connected by a crosshead 23. The side members 2| and 22 are slit as at 25, these slits being alined with the sides of the crosshead 23 so that the length of the crosshead is virtually increased. The side members 2| and 22 are then bent through an arc of on the lines 0-0 and d-d, these lines being parallel to the sides of the side members 2| and 22 and extending through the ends of the slits 25, as indicated in Figure 3. The side members 2| and 22 are then disposed in planes perpendicular to the plane of the crosshead 23 and are spaced apart a distance slightly greater than the width of the strip H]. The end portions of the side members 2| and 22 are thereupon bent toward each other through angles of 90 on the lines ee and f-,f, so that the side members 2| and 22 are disposed in rectangularshape, as indicated in Figure 4, and are adapted to embrace the legs Hi and I6 of the member ID. A hole 26 may be provided in the center of the crosshead 23 to receive a rivet 30 projecting from an end face of a screw 3| which is adapted for screw-threaded engagement, with the thread in the grooves l2 and I3. The screw 3| is loosely attached to the member 20 by means of the rivet 30 so that it can rotate relatively thereto,and may be provided with the customary slot 32 to receive a screw driver. The screw 3| and the grooves l2 and I3 may be provided with screw threads of ordinary configuration, or, if desired, with buttress threads, the latter having one of its flanks generated by a line segment which remains perpendicular to the axis of the thread as it moves in a helical path,

a thread of this description being indicated in Figure 12. This minimizes the spreading effect which the screw 36 has on the legs in and it when the screw is set up tightly. When the device is assembled for use, a conductor M1 is first inserted in the member it between the legs i5 and it. The member 29 is then slipped over the member it so that the crosshead 23 is slidably disposed between the legs it and it and the thread of the screw 3i engages the thread in the grooves i2 and iii. The screw ti is then set up by means of a screw driver until the crosshead 23 is forced tightly against the conductor at so as to clamp it against the bottom of the U-shaped member iii, as indicated in Figure 7. The side portions and 22 of the member 2G embrace the legs 65 and it so as to prevent these legs from spreading and releasing the screw 3i. It is evident that, if desired, two or more conductors may be inserted in the connecter as indicated in Fig ure 9, provided that none of the conductors is of a diameter greater than the space between the legs in and it.

Figures 10 and 1]. illustrate the connecter used as a terminal for a fuse block 15. As therein shown, the member it) of the eonnecter is secured to the insulating base of the block by a screw 36 which is in threaded engagement in the hole ii, the latter having been tapped to receive the screw Mi. Between the insulating base and the member Hi there is a metal strip ii which connects the connecter to a fuse clip 5d mounted on the base. The connecter can also be adapted to any of the uses for which such connecters are employed.

It is evident that various modifications and changes may be made in the embodiments of the invention herein shown and described without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.

What I claim is:

l. A solderless connecter comprising a U- shaped member consisting of a, strip of metal bent to shape and adapted to receive an electrical conductor between the legs thereof, a screw between the legs and in threaded engagement therewith, and a skirt member made of fiat stock slidably engaging said legs, said skirt member having a central bridging portion extending across the space between said legs at the inner end of said screw and a pair of Wing portions each slidably engaging the outer faces of both said legs over a substantial distance in both directions from the plane or said bridging portion.

2. In a solderless connector, a, clamping member made of a piece of sheet metal cut and bent to shape and comprising a horizontal bridging element and a pair of wing elements at the opposite ends of said bridging element, said Win elements each having a central portion disposed in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the bridging element, each said wing element having end portions bent at right angles to the plane of the central portion and extending both above and below the plane of said bridging element.

3. In a solderless connecter, a clamping member comprising a single piece of sheet metal cut and bent to a form having a bridging transverse element and a wing element at each end of said bridging element, each said wing element having a central portion perpendicular to the plane of the bridging element and a pair of end portions perpendicular to the planes of said bridging member and said central portion, said end portions projecting both above and below the plane of saidbridging member, and a screw extending up centrally from said bridging element and loosely pivoted thereto for rotation about its own axis.

ERNEST G. JOHANSSON. 

